Sunday, May 11, 2008

The Paddick Diary

Despite the disappointment of not winning and the increasingly uphill slog that faced him, Brian shows that he retained his sense of humour throughout the campaign:

April 2nd Time Out hustings at the University of London students' union. They want 24-hour licensing.

I praise Ken for supporting Time Out's campaign by personal example. Increasingly he turns up for events the worse for wear, then drinks plenty.

We're in the middle of the "Cleggover" storm, after Nick Clegg said he'd had up to 30 lovers. Am asked how many I've slept with. "A lot fewer women than Nick," I say.

13th London Marathon. Afraid of dehydration, I drink too much and have to stop for a loo break after three miles. While others urinate against fences, I cannot risk a Paula Radcliffe moment.

Finish in 4 hours 52 minutes. No feeling of jubilation, just an overwhelming desire to lie down. Wait for media interviews that never come. Do raise £2,000 for charity.

16th A burger company has created a Ken burger (beef and red sauce), a Boris burger (beef with a blue cheese sauce), a Brian burger (spicy chicken) and a Sian burger (vegetarian). While being photographed with my own burger, I eat a Boris.

19th Stonewall hustings at the Southbank. Boris is bullish. Unfortunately he greets me "Brian, you old fruit," and as I start to laugh he quickly backtracks, "I mean old bean."

People do not always appreciate how bizarre some of the experiences you encounter when running for office can be.

Update: The main complaint Brian Paddick appears to have in this article is that the campaign was underfunded. This is quite different to Iain Dale's interpretation that Brian did not get enough support from the party. Peter Dunphy has more details on the reality of raising funds here.

Susan Kramer recovered from an unsuccessful London mayoral campaign to win a seat in parliament. One hopes that Brian Paddick rethinks his decision to avoid Westminster. He would be an excellent addition to the House of Commons.

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